9 Ways To Teach Children To Hate Reading
Adults often make mistakes when trying to introduce children to the fascinating world of books. According to Italian author and teacher Gianni Rodari, there are many ways to teach children to hate reading. Unfortunately, we fall into these traps easier than you might think.
The benefits of reading are undeniable, both for children and parents. It helps us communicate better, expands our vocabulary and improves our ability to express ourselves. It stimulates our imagination, improves our ability to concentrate and improves our learning, among many other things.
In addition, it is not possible to diminish the personal enjoyment of reading. Therefore, many parents are willing to try different strategies to get their children to read. The bad news is that it does not always work. In fact, many fail and have the opposite effect.
According to Gianni Rodari, who passed away in 2017, it is entirely possible to make their children hate reading, no matter how paradoxical it may sound. How does it happen? You just need to make a few common mistakes and vips, you have created reluctance instead of interest.
9 ways to teach children to hate reading
Rodari has made a huge contribution to the pedagogy and doctrine of education, especially when it comes to reading comprehension. He was also a brilliant author of books for children.
Many of his articles were published in the Italian press in the 1960s and 70s. In them, as in the famous essay The Grammar of Fantasy , Rodari gave advice to parents, teachers and students on how to write stories.
But he also offered a number of observations of the mistakes people make during the education process. One of the essays he wrote on the subject was called 9 Ways to Teach Children to Hate Reading, in which he listed the following:
1. “Offering a book as an alternative to TV”
For Rodari, it is completely counterproductive to deny one form of entertainment and then replace it with another. The only thing you achieve, he says, is to create the false belief that you have to choose one or the other.
2. “Presenting a book as an alternative to comic books”
Rodari argued that the fact that children like to read comic books does not mean that they like other types of reading.
If they enjoy reading comics but not other books, it simply means that what they enjoy reading is different from what other people enjoy reading.
3. “To say that children used to read more before”
You should not compare today’s children, the famous millennial generation, with previous generations. They grow up in completely different contexts and with different tools available to them, and therefore their lifestyle is completely different.
4. “Believing that children have too many other distractions”
Just because a child has a lot of free time does not mean that the child will start reading. Rodari says it has more to do with the position that books occupy in one’s culture and in the family home.
5. “To criticize their children if they do not like to read”
Why is it their fault if they do not like reading? There are many families where the parents do not even read the newspaper. But they may still have high demands on their children and their literary ambitions.
Rodari blames the state, the public school and “high culture”. He says this is “always too aristocratic for educational tasks.”
6. “Making Books a Method of Torture”
The author said that when people see books as a “serious” activity rather than something fun, it makes the books a method of torture, and he believed that this prepares children for a life full of suffering.
7. “Refusing to read to your children”
Reading a book or poem to your children, even if they are very young, is a great way for them to develop a love of books. It also stimulates their ability to communicate and is a great way for them to get into the world of books.
8. “Not giving them enough choice”
One mistake that many parents make is to give their child a specific book and, if they do not read it, conclude that the child does not like to read.
Have you ever loved the very first book you picked up? Why should we not give children a chance to choose something that interests them?
9. “Forcing them to read”
This is the most effective way to teach children to hate reading. People dislike few things more than what they are forced to do. It even happens with things they are passionate about.
When someone does something for pure pleasure, they will never stop enjoying it. But when it becomes a job or a duty, their freedom is limited and they will no longer find pleasure in it.
If you are a parent and want your children to develop a taste for reading, it may be helpful to consider all of these points. They come from an expert with extensive experience.
